Crimson Hair and Broken Promises
by TsukiKatze
Summary: "You were more gentle tonight. I'm guessing you've probably figured out the secret I've been hiding from you. Marian." Neither took their gaze of the ceiling but the man gave a small chuckle as he replied. There are many similarities between Cross and Lavi. So, what if indeed there was more of a connection between the two that not even Bookman could ever have comprehended?
1. Prologue

In a darkened room, moonlight illuminated cotton sheets along with two bumps buried under the covers. A half empty bottle of wine resided on the nightstand beside the bed, two glass cups keeping the beverage company. Slowly and slightly the covers moved up and down from the calm breathing of a man, and a woman. The man had long crimson hair that splayed messily on the mattress. His right eye, covered with a strange white mask. On the other side rested a woman with shorter, wavy brown hair. Her emerald eyes sparkled in the dark for the moonlight was mostly directed on her side of the bed. Both stared at the ceiling as if it was a book with a plot that unnecessarily dragged on.

Neither one looked at each other, nor did they make any gesture to starting a conversation. Both were at peace with the silence of night and the slight breeze from the open window that helped to chill the summer heat. After a couple more moments of silence the woman spoke.

"You were more gentle tonight. I'm guessing you've probably figured out the secret I've been hiding from you. Marian." Neither took their gaze off the ceiling but the man gave a small chuckle as he replied.

"As nothing gets pass me it seems that you are quite the same my lady. Yes I have noticed however that is not the reason I decided to be more 'gentle,' in fact there was no reason at all. In addition I prefer you call me Cross, not Marian." Again silence blanketed the room. It was not an awkward silence but rather both were taking their time to contemplate their situation.

"As you know Nadia I have been with many other woman but now I can finally confess that never in any of my, intimate, encounters did this predicament ever come to life." This time it was Nadia's turn to laugh. Pushing herself up she then grabbed a cigarette out of a box and lit one. Passing the carton to the red head Cross gladly excepted one and put it in his mouth beckoning with his finger for Nadia to lean down. He lit his cigarette from her already lit one and in a simultaneous motion, both breathed out the nicotine that helped to soothe their inner pains.

"Two months. This baby has been inside me for two months now and I will raise him or her with or without you. " Nadia took another drag and continued. "I expect that I'll be raising the baby without the presence of a father so there's two questions I need to ask of you." Another drag.

"Shoot." said Cross.

"First, would you ever like me to tell our kid about his or her, precious father and two...I'm quite horrible with names so if you have any ideas that would be great." Smoke was starting to suffocate the air that was in the room. Cross got up, put his pants on and walked over to the window to open it a little more. He stood gazing at the moon and the stars in the sky feeling the impatient stare of his partner boring into his back.

"I'll have to say no to both of your questions. First this kid doesn't need to know that a man like me was his father. Second I must congratulate you for being the only person who ever found out my one and only weakness, giving names to babies. They're hideous by the way, I can't stand them."

"Then I'm glad you won't be here to see your kid grow up. Knowing you Marian you'd be a terrible father anyway. Heck, you'd give him brain damage or worse turn him into a Marian Jr." Emerald stared into Amber and in an instant both broke out in hearty laughter.

Though it was true that Cross had indeed been with many other woman and would never change, Nadia to him was unique. She was full of spunk, strength and was quite a sarcastic person. He had met many interesting woman but very few did he think equal to him. Though Nadia's personality was light the emotion that shined in her eyes were dark, full of knowledge and suffering. Those eyes were the first part of her that attracted Cross. She was also the first and so far only person who could backtalk him to crushing defeat. He came to a be close friends with Nadia and on more than one occasion did they get, a little more closer than they should have. However no matter how much he did care for the woman the red head did not love her and even one night Nadia herself spoke that she did not feel love towards him either. So they continued on with their routine and stayed friends, but only friends.

Nadia beckoned for Marian to come back and both fell into a peaceful sleep that night. Warmth hit Nadia's face and she slowly awoke rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Next to her was an empty spot, Marian had left. She felt the imprint left by his body, still slightly warm. He was a good enough man to at least leave early morning and not the middle of night she would give him credit for that. Looking over at the nightstand a piece of paper replaced the bottle of wine. She lazily reached out to grab it and read it's contents.

_I had quite an experience with you Nadia and I promise to go out drinking with you again. Someday. By the way your cigarettes were a perfect parting gift._  
><em>Cross Marian ~❤<em>

Letting the note fall out of her hands Nadia feverishly looked for her box of cigarettes with no luck. "I take it all back, that man is nothing but a thieving bastard." Nadia continued her mumbling rant however the small smile plastered on her face made the event all the more pleasurable.


	2. Beginnings and Pandas Part: I

**Reviews: SilverWolf442 and ChiChi: Thank you very much for reviewing Crimson Hair and Broken Promises : D. Reading back I must confess that I agree with you with the fact that Cross is ooc and when I write with him in the future I'll make sure that I can be more accurate with his character. I didn't mean for Cross to be rude to Nadia so if other people as well think that Cross is ooc in a bad way, I will most likely go back and tweak the prologue. But thanks to everyone that took the time to read this story! Now on with the show.**

Underneath slightly cloudy skies a small town was alive, filled with bustling crowds. It was rumored that a storm was on it's way and with the dark gray that littered the usual blue, the warning was not taken lightly. All shopping was being done, any necessities bought, and assignments, completed. Light-hearted chatter and laughter was shared among people and shop- owners alike. A small group of young men were trying their luck with some of the more beautiful residences of the town only to be chased away by angry boyfriends or overprotective family members.

Amidst the lively commotion was a boy about the age of six that walked down the main street with a list of groceries clenched in one hand. Almost everything about the boy, such as his clothing being black-scuffed shoes, army green shorts, a white shirt and the dark gray cap that took residence upon his head was normal. However unique features the kid had made him stand out to many of the residences. With partly brushed crimson hair and one sharp emerald eye with the other hidden underneath a bandage, he was known by everyone in the small and humble town. His mother was also known throughout the citizens as a kind but short-tempered woman where in contrast, the father was never brought up even once.

"Afternoon Zara, it seems that you're helping your mother with the shopping, now ain't that kind of ya." Behind the fruit and vegetable stand stood an older man who bore a big toothy grin. Practically bald the man wore a green bandana over his head perhaps because he wished to cover what was lost to him. The redhead smiled back and greeted the man back showing him the list of what was needed. With the smile never leaving the adults face both worked on picking the most fresh and plump produce they could find.

"Thank you very much Alec!" said the younger boy as he paid for the fruits and vegetables.

"No problem kiddo. Come see me again after the storm passes so we can have a nice chit chat. Oh, and tell ya mother that her good ole' friend Alec said hi." Zara gave a thumbs up as he promised to Alec that he would. With a final wave, the boy started back on his hunt for the items listed on the paper.

When Zara was finished with his shopping quest the sun was still high in the sky and his belly made a loud growling sound. Nearby was a coffeehouse dubbed by the townspeople as the home of the most delicious pastries. A small bell rang as he opened the door and the redhead was greeted by a sweet smell that instantly caused his mouth to water.

Besides the store owner who greeted him upon entrance, only an old man was in the shop, quite unusual for the store was always

packed. Zara shrugged the thought off believing that it was only because of the upcoming storm and that the people were too busy readying for it's arrival. If that was the case then it would make sense for the coffee house to be practically deserted. Zara's attention turned back to the old man. The elder was very unique looking and his feet didn't even touch the ground making Zara guess that this man was quite short. As if the said other knew he was being gazed upon the old man looked up from the paper he was reading and looked straight back at the boy. He let out a dissatisfied grunt and Zara turned his head away feeling slightly embarrassed.

Without a care the elder turned back to read his paper and the younger boy turned his head back to stare at the old man. Not only was the man reading but at many points he wrote something down into a notebook. Unconsciously Zara's feet moved him right up to the table and before either the young kid or the old man knew it, Zara was peering over the table and taking a look at the notes.

"Young man, either your parents were neglectant to teach your manners or you have forgotten them." and with that the notebook

was closed and was promptly used to bonk Zara on the top of his head.

"I have no business with a youngster like you now shoo, go about with your business and let me go about mine." The older man

was frank with his words as he made a shooing motion with his hand at Zara to go. However, the redhead was curious as to what the old man was writing about.

"Hey old panda what are you writing down in that notebook?" Again the notebook was hit over the boys head much to the youngers protest.

"Your lack of manners should astound me but from what I've seen from the world...nonetheless you need a lot of work with your etiquette." Zara tilted his head a little at the older mans words.

"Oh! You must be talking about the name I gave you well mister, you have two huge black spots over your eyes and once in a book I read it showed a picture of a panda and when I look at you I think of that animal!" The old man seemed to have given up with using the book for violence against Zara so the young boy continued. "If you don't like old panda then why don't you tell me your real name? My name is Zara by the way. Also you never told me what you are writing in that notebook of yours." A sigh came from the older man, the boy was definitely a chatterbox and time could not be wasted because of a curious boy who would get no answers.

"I'm writing about history, that is all I will tell you now leave me be." With that the old man opened his notebook and continued with his reading and writing ignoring the question about his name altogether. Much to the elder mans annoyance instead of leaving the boy continued to look over the table at the writing. To Zara's dismay however, whatever what was being written down was in another language that he could not read. The way the characters were placed together looked weird to the boy for he'd never seen writing of a different language before.

"You're too trusting boy." The old man grumbled after a couple more minutes of silence making the boy turn his head around to look at the old man.

"Too trusting? What do you mean by that old panda?" However the only answer Zara got was the continuance of pen writing words onto paper.

**Authors Note: So even though this is fanfiction about the relationship between Cross and Lavi I also wanted to incorporate how Lavi became a bookman. However these upcoming chapters will help relate to the main story and it will help to go more into depth with the shared traits between Lavi and Cross. I gave Lavi's first name as Zara because it's short for the name Zarazdaiti meaning trusting. One, I felt that with the layout of my story the meaning would fit his personality as a kid. Two, the name Zara just felt right to me so I went with it. I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter and reviews are always welcomed. : )**


	3. Behind the Eyepatch

**Finally I finished the next chapter. Sorry for the late update but I've been quite busy with school and the what-not. The next update will take some time as well but I hope not as long as this update. Thanks for continuing! **

The old man's words were stuck on repeat in Zara's head. "Too trusting, why did he have to go say those words out of the blue?" the boy mumbled to himself as he felt his grip tighten on the bag. Trusting others wasn't bad at all in Zara's opinion. At least in the town, everyone had trusted one another, helped each other, and worked together to keep peace and happiness. His mother had told him once that all people no matter how bad they seem, have good in their hearts somewhere. Zara had always blindly agreed but the old-panda like man managed to make the redhead question the phrase for the first time. He had barely any experience of the world outside the town. Stories from the travelers that rested in Hamage were the closest Zara would ever get to experience. However all the travelers Zara encountered were nice trusting folks. Never had the boy met someone criminal and now his eyes were opened a little more to how naive he truly was to the world. What was bad and what was good? What was white, what was black?

'That darn old man got my head spinning with all this thinking.' Zara thought to himself. Refusing to continue the deep philosophy the subject was pushed back under the clutter of other questions the redhead had. However there was one lurking thought Zara had, one that was once pushed down so deep long ago but was now trying to resurface.

"Welcome back Zara. How did the shopping go?" Closing the door and kicking his shoes off letting them land wherever, the boy walked over to the table and set down the bag.

"I got everything on the list thanks to Alec. He says hi by the way."

"That man has always been downright cheery to the point where you sometimes got to wonder." Nadia started to shift through the bags picking out the produce she was going to use in dinner. "Well he has a fine eye so im not complaining." Nadia said aloud as she inspected the vegetables. She looked back at Zara and her face scrunched up. His mother set down the food and went to Zara pressing a palm to his forehead. "You've been awfully quieter than the usual and a little pale. Have you been feeling sick? I told you if you ever felt ill tell me. See, you let this happen before and the outcome was a sick boy in bed for a week."

"I'm fine mom just a little tired after today. I think after some resting I'll be fine." Zara nudged the intruding hand away as he spoke. His mother watched as the red head started up the steps to his room but not a moment later poking his little head out. "I'm really hungry by the way so give a holler when dinner's done. Thanks mom love you!"

"I swear that boy can be as blunt as his father." Green eyes shined with amusement watching the head disappear and then reverted back to inspecting a roll of lettuce.

Upstairs, Zara closed the door to his room, small but cozy. Opposite to him was a window that he could see the street from in the reflection. A bed to the left of the window and on the right, a desk and drawers. Books were littered and stacked throughout the whole room making the small area look messier than it really was. Nudging books out of the way with his foot the child made his way towards the mirror, the thought in the back of his mind still pulling at him. He took a moment to stare at his reflection in the mirror. His eye-patch started to become very uncomfortable to Zara and slowly he reached up to touch the bandage. Never had his eye felt as strange as it was now and the desire to yank the eyepatch off was overwhelming.

His hand moved to the string behind his head and the piece of cloth fell limply to the floor. Brushing crimson hair back revealed bone that covered the place where the right eye would normally be. A small black shaped resembling a small cross was carved into the middle.

"Trust. Yet, I've never told anyone why I wear an eyepatch, I wonder why? Was it because, a lack of trust?" Perhaps simply because it wasn't natural. His mother never took him to a doctor but he was told by her it wasn't fatal.

"It's not an injury nor will it ever harm who you are Zara, physically or mentally. Think of it as merely, a birthmark." Zara moved his head closer to the mirror his eyes straining to study the "birthmark" more. It never hurt, never itched, ached, the bone overgrowth felt perfectly normal. The only downside was that without the eye patch, Zaras eyesight was still very poor. If he could describe it somehow it would be as if one tried to see through squinted eyes. Zara was grateful his left eye was perfectly normal, in fact the sight in said eye was quite strong and through the mirror the redhead caught sight of a moving figure down in the streets.

Curiosity took control and the boy grabbed his eyepatch off the ground, quickly put it back on and ventured to the window. It was the old panda-like guy at the coffee house earlier. Sometimes the man turned his head from side to side as if he was looking for something. The sun had nearly set so the few lights on the road made it a bit hard for Zara to see any movement besides the shadowed frame. Closer and closer the old panda came to the redheads house making it seem as if that was his destination. The old-man was now in front of Zara's door. No hesitation the boy was scrambling out his room and down the stairs. It was great luck that the old-panda was coming over Zara had so many questions that he had.

His mother had just opened the door and before the man was greeted with a simple hello he was instead met with many fast-paced words. A bonk on the head from Nadia, Zara was then told to set the table while she politely allowed the guest in. Grumbling the redhead went to fetch the plates and silverware but he would make sure that every question he had for the old-panda, would be answered.

**A/N: So this wasn't very exciting but next chapter will be a nice one on one with Zara/Lavi and Bookman so that'll be fun. This chapter also covers the reason behind Zara's eyepatch. Cross himself has a I'm going to call it a "bone mask" covering his right eye and I headcannon that if Zara was really Cross's son that he would've been given the curse as well. It's not an injury now is it hehe. I can't wait to work more with this idea in the future! : D Review are great and I hope to keep improving with my writing and I hope you can continue to enjoy this fanfic! **


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